Shares in Emerald Resources Ltd (ASX: EMR) have hit a new record high after the company announced a major upgrade to the gold resource at its Memot project in Cambodia.
The company said in a statement to the ASX on Wednesday that the project now had an indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate of 45 million tonnes of ore at a grade of 1.2 grams per tonne of gold, for a total of 1.7 million ounces of gold.
This was a 27% increase from the previous estimate, the company said, with a 22% increase in the high confidence "inferred" classification.
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Future looking bright
Emerald Managing Director Morgan Hart said the company was progressing its plans well.
This update, together with the recent grant of the Industrial Mining Licence and execution of the Mineral Investment Agreement, positions the Project to commence development in 2026. Ongoing exploration work, including extensional drilling at Memot, is expected to further expand on the resource and future reserves. "Progress at the Memot Gold Project, together with continued advancement of our 100% owned Dingo Range Gold Project in Western Australia and strong performance from our 100% owned Okvau Gold Mine in Cambodia, signals a period of significant growth for Emerald.
Mr Hart said the company remains "firmly on track to deliver its objective of becoming a 300,000 to 400,000 ounce-per-annum gold producer''.
Building a regional base
The company applied for a gold exploration licence at Memot, 95km from its Okvau gold mine, in 2021.
The company has since spent US$26.7 million on exploration at Memot, which it says equates to a discovery cost of $18 per ounce of gold.
The company is envisaging a contractor-operated open-cut mining program at the site, where it is continuing to drill for more resources, as it said:
The Memot Gold Project remains open along strike and at depth, with drilling ongoing to test mineralisation in both directions. Access for effective lateral extensional drilling targeting the north-east trending intrusion is currently being hampered by rice paddy farming. The current land purchasing program is underway and is expected to open up areas planned exploration drilling for additional resource extension.
A 16,000m infill drilling program has also started, designed to improve confidence in the mineral resource estimate.
Emerald Resources shares hit a record of $7.45 on the news before settling back to be 5.4% higher at $7.41.
The shares have more than doubled from lows of $3.24 over the past 12 months. The company was valued at $4.64 billion at the close of trade on Tuesday.
